NEWS IN BRIEF

FINES of 11 million ecu imposed by the European Commission on German railway company Deutsche Bahn have been upheld by the European Court of First Instance. The Court backed a Commission decision which ruled against a maritime container network agreement concluded in 1988 between Deutsche Bahn and rail companies SNCF Belges, Nederlands Spoorwegen, Intercontainer and Transfracht, because it fell foul of EU competition rules.ITALIAN port policy has been declared partly illegal by Competition Commissioner Karel van Miert. He said Italy must end a monopoly system for the supply of temporary manual dock workers and also a scheme that gives special ‘discriminatory’ discounts on port fees to two companies in the port of Genoa. In a separate decision, the Commission also demanded the repayment of 6.35 million ecu of state aid awarded to the shipping sector in Sardinia.

European Voice

10/22/97, 5:00 PM CET

Updated 4/12/14, 2:33 AM CET

MICROSOFT Corp, the US computer software firm, is being investigated by the Commission, which is looking into the company’s contracts with Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The investigation is thought to be focusing on the way Microsoft proposed to allow EU-based ISPs to distribute its Internet Explorer software if they agreed not to offer rival products supplied by companies such as Netscape Communications Corp.

HOPES of a breakthrough on gas liberalisation at a special meeting of EU energy ministers next Monday (27 October) are fading fast, according to EU sources. The Luxembourg presidency had hoped to broker a provisional deal on a draft gas liberalisation law at next week’s meeting, but an official said it did not now expect to clinch a deal.ACCOUNTANCY firms Ernst & Young and KPMG announced plans this week to merge into the world’s largest accountancy organisation with combined annual fee income of around 14 billion ecu. EU anti-trust officials are certain to want to join other regulatory authorities in scrutinising this latest deal.If the merger goes ahead, the traditional ‘big six’ accountancy firms will be reduced to just four, following the earlier announcement that rivals Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand also plan to unite.

THE Commission will rule next week on Stena Line AB and P&O’s plans to merge their ferry operations across the English Channel. Sources say that Van Miert has asked his department to come up with a proposal in the next few days and he will make a decision before the end of next week.